Author Description

Ned Kelly was a dangerous man to be around. At Glenrowan, before the siege began, he was fiddling with a confiscated revolver when it accidentally discharged, wounding a hostage in the eye. That individual died months later in wretched circumstances.The organised crime network of stock theft, of which the Kelly Gang was a major part, inspired community fear. But Ned's extended family also included violent individuals, such as the Quinn and Lloyd menfolk. Two brothers-in-law seriously injured a Senior Constable with a stirrup iron, one of them 'shouting like a madman'. An uncle avenged himself on a neighbour by hacking his horse to death with an axe. Crazed, violent men like these created a general climate of terror in north-east Victoria.This controversial book re-examines the story of the Kelly Gang in fascinating detail and with many new insights. The mythology created by pro-Kelly writers is critically explored, unravelled, and often found wanting. Many missing official documents have been identified for the first time.A pattern of extreme hostility against police emerges both before and after the Stringybark police murders.